Voter ID debate,

LETTER TO THE EDITOR IDENTIFICATION

Donald R. Fox

The Editor

Box 909

Tupelo, MS  38802-0909

Concerning the voter ID debate, I ask what has happened to common sense?  When I was in the U.S. Army, I wore my “dog tags”; I carried a military identification card.  I was fingerprinted; I could prove who I was. Now I am a retired Command Sergeant Major, US Army and have an ID Card to prove who I am.  I have a driver’s license. I carry several types of identification on me at all times. When I traveled overseas to Russia, I needed a visa and a passport.  You see I like to be identified. I want people to know who I am, a law-abiding citizen of the U.S.A.

This Nation goes to great extents to identify those killed in warfare, etc.  After “911” we sifted through the wreckage to recover even parts of bodies in order to identify loved ones.  As civilized caring people we seek to identify those that were killed in car wrecks, warfare and other type of tragedies.  To care and console the bereaving is a mark of civilized people.

Our borders are crossed by illegal, unlawful means by the thousands, and our government just winks at it. Is this not lawlessness? Today, there are folks that squawk at the idea of identifying themselves before they can vote.  They claim that it is an invasion of their privacy. I do not know about that!  I do know, that only those who are legally registered should vote.  In order to accomplish this, there must be some way to identify the voter.  Am I wrong on this?  Why is it that people want to be identified when they die but demand privacy when they are alive?

Even our Lord Jesus desired identification.  “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesare’a Phillippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.  He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:13-16)  Jesus the Christ is the most identified figure in the annals of history.

On the cross of Jesus they “set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” (Matthew 27:37)

I believe identification is necessary.  I want everyone to know who I am.  I am not afraid of the law officials here in the small town of Saltillo, Mississippi where I live.  I am a law-abiding citizen, and I desire to be identified as such.  I like identification!

Respectfully submitted, Donald R. Fox

End Note as of July 18, 2016:  This letter to the editor was submitted to the Tupelo Daily Journal on 8 October 2012.  I cannot corroborate if the letter was published, however, I belief it was.  Further, you can read this letter as a regular essay under the title “